The Relationship Between Mindful Parenting and Distress in Parents of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be highly challenging. Extensive behaviour problems associated with the disorder may contribute to poor psychological health amongst parents. It is important to investigate factors that are related to parental well-being and that may be amenable to intervention. The current study investigated mindful parenting amongst parents of children with ASD. Participants (N = 28) completed a questionnaire about their child’s behaviour problems, parental stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms and mindful parenting, along with open-ended questions about mindful parenting practices and general parenting experiences. Higher levels of mindful parenting were related to lower levels of depressive symptoms and stress. There was no relationship between mindful parenting and anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of child behaviour problems were associated with more severe parental depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and stress and lower levels of mindful parenting. Contrary to expectations, preliminary analyses using partial correlations indicated that mindful parenting did not mediate the relationship between child behaviour problems and parental distress. Thematic analysis of the open-ended mindful parenting questions yielded four main themes: examples of mindful parenting practices, specific strategies, advantages of mindful parenting and difficulties in adopting these practices. Three themes regarding general parenting experiences emerged: parent and family problems, positive feelings towards the child and parenting approaches. Mindful parenting may have benefits for parents’ psychological health. Further research exploring the effectiveness of mindful parenting interventions is warranted.